🌊 RFK Jr. Reviews SSRIs

Georgia Meloni is tall. Perfect height, in fact.

An Italian journalist was just ordered to pay €5,000 ($5,208) in damages to the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, for mocking her height over social media. The journalist wrote, “You don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 metres (4 ft) tall. I can’t even see you.” An Italian court called it “body shaming.”

Wow, if only an Italian court could’ve witnessed what we heard at our middle school lunch tables. My “husky” 7th grade self would’ve made the Forbes list.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

RFK To Review Meds

Trump ordered HHS Secretary RFK Jr. to lead a panel examining “the prevalence of and threat” posed by SSRIs, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs

• Last Thursday, Trump signed an order establishing a “Make America Healthy Again” commission led by RFK Jr. that will review widely-prescribed medications

• The panel that RFK is overseeing will investigate SSRIs, which treat depression, anxiety, and mood disorders; stimulants, like Adderall, which treat ADHD; and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, like Ozempic

• Prescriptions of each drug have soared since the pandemic

Dig Deeper

• Roughly 13% – one in eight – of Americans were prescribed an SSRI in 2019. Prescription rates accelerated by up to 64% during the pandemic, particularly among young Americans. The increase was greatest among 12- to 17-year-old girls and 18- to 25-year-old women

• Doctors say the drugs are needed to treat mental health problems; critics, like RFK, say they are overprescribed

• For a deep dive on RFK Jr.’s story, check out our brand new We The 66 video

KEY STORY

US and Russia Meet

Top diplomats from the US and Russia met in Saudi Arabia on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine and the US-Russia relationship

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he and Russia’s foreign minister discussed “the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians,” including restoring staffing at their embassies in Washington and Moscow, creating a team for Ukraine peace negotiations, and building closer geopolitical and economic cooperation

• Russia hardened its demands during the meeting, stating that it is “not enough” to exclude Ukraine from NATO and rejected the return of any occupied territory to Ukraine

Dig Deeper

• Prior to the talks, Trump officials had said that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO and would not regain its 2014 territory

• Notably, Ukraine was absent from the talks in Saudi Arabia, which President Zelensky criticized. After the meeting, he stated that the talks “are taking place between representatives of Russia and representatives of the United States of America. About Ukraine – about Ukraine again – and without Ukraine”

• He argued for “fair” negotiations and stated that they should involve Ukraine, the EU, Turkey, and the UK

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KEY STORY

Hostages to be Freed

Hamas agreed to release its last six living Israeli hostages

• The agreement expedites the release of three Israeli hostages by one week and fulfills the release of all living hostages, as the first phase of the ceasefire deal required. The hostages include two Israelis held by Hamas for over a decade

• In return, Israel will free more than 100 Palestinian prisoners, as well as all non-combatant women and minors it has arrested in Gaza since October 7

• Hamas reportedly offered to accelerate the hostage releases as Trump and PM Netanyahu threatened to unleash “hell” upon Gaza

Dig Deeper 

• Despite the new agreement, phase two of the ceasefire agreement – which outlines a permanent end to the war, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and more hostages and prisoner exchanges – is still uncertain

• Israel and Hamas were scheduled to start negotiations on the deal’s second phase three weeks ago, but Qatar – a key mediator – said talks have not begun

• A report this morning indicated that Israel agreed to start the talks next week

KEY STORY

DOGE Seeks More Data

DOGE is pushing for access to sensitive Social Security and IRS data

• Over the weekend, the Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner resigned after allegedly refusing to provide DOGE with internal information, including recipient data

• DOGE is also seeking to access the IRS’ “Integrated Data Retrieval System,” which provides “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts”

• The White House stated that DOGE’s “direct access” to the IRS and Social Security systems is essential to identifying wasteful spending, while Democrats said it threatened the systems’ technology and would politicize them

Dig Deeper

• Justifying DOGE’s access to the IRS, the White House said, “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it”

• Senior Democratic senators pushed back against DOGE’s access to taxpayer data, warning in a letter that “meddling with IRS systems in the middle of tax filing season could…cause breakdowns that may delay the issuance of tax refunds indefinitely”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🔬 CIA officials revealed the agency has increased covert drone flights “well into sovereign Mexico” to hunt for cartels and fentanyl labs

📣 New York Governor Kathy Hochul met with New York City leaders on Tuesday to discuss possibly removing Mayor Eric Adams

📈 European defense stocks surged Monday after NATO leaders indicated they would increase defense spending targets from 2% to "considerably more than 3%" of GDP

🖥️ Elon Musk's xAI launched Grok 3, a new AI model that one standard assessment shows outperforms OpenAI and DeepSeek in areas like math, science, and coding

🏫 The Trump Administration gave US schools two weeks to eliminate all diversity initiatives and "racial preferences" in admissions, financial aid, and hiring, or risk losing federal funding

COMMUNITY
What does Roca Nation think?

🧠 Yesterday’s Question: Do you support celebrities “using their platform” to make social/political statements?

🧐 Today’s Question: Do you trust RFK Jr. more or less than the health bureaucrats before him?

Reply here with your answer!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

👟 Nike’s New Curve: Nike is teaming up with Kim Kardashian to create a new brand called "NikeSkims," marking the first time the struggling sportswear giant has partnered to create a new brand rather than just acquiring one

🥤 Coke’s Gut Instinct: Coca-Cola is jumping into the prebiotic soda market with Simply Pop, which aims to compete with popular brands Olipop and Poppi in a growing $440M category

🔫 Fake Assassination Backfires: A Brazilian mayor allegedly paid $88,000 for fake hitmen to stage an assassination attempt against himself to win sympathy votes

🚗 Cleaning Cars to Clear Records: A Michigan judge ordered shoplifters to wash cars in Walmart parking lots this spring instead of misdemeanor fines and sentences

🍾 Holy Spirits: A Kentucky priest turned the Pope’s signatures on bourbon bottles into $30,000 in donations for charities after convincing Pope Francis to autograph two bottles of 10-year bourbon

SPONSORED WRAP
Imam Murder

South Africa

The first openly gay imam was assassinated in this country.

A nation of 60M people that emerged from apartheid to become a constitutional democracy, South Africa legalized same-sex marriage in 2006. Despite that, the country continues to grapple with tensions between progressive laws and conservative religious and social traditions. The latest such example played out in the coastal city of Gqeberha this weekend.

Despite only 1.6% of South Africans considering themselves Muslim, South Africa is home to Muhsin Hendricks, a man known as the world’s first openly gay imam, or Muslim leader.

On Saturday, though, Hendricks was shot multiple times through his car window by masked men. Security footage shows one assailant running up to Hendricks' vehicle and firing repeatedly. Hendricks died while his driver survived.

Hendricks was known internationally for establishing a mosque in Cape Town that welcomed gay Muslims, challenging traditional Islamic prohibitions against homosexuality. He appeared in a 2022 documentary called "The Radical," where he acknowledged threats but said his "need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die."

While police haven't established a motive, political parties and LGBTQ+ organizations believe Hendricks was targeted for his inclusive interpretation of the Quran. The Muslim Judicial Council, which had opposed his teachings, condemned the murder while maintaining their disagreement with his positions.

ROCA VIDEO
Who Really Is RFK Jr.?

When his uncle was assassinated, RFK Jr. was just 9 years old. Then at 14, he received a call: His father – then a US senator running for president – had been shot while campaigning in California. RFK Jr. flew to Los Angeles and was at the hospital when his father died.

His turbulent childhood gave way to a rebellious adolescence. He then got his life together and became a prominent environmental lawyer. He was a liberal hero but then... that changed. What happened? Why did he veer in a different direction? This video tells his story.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

On this day in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for urinating on the Alamo. So we’re going to add that to the list of things not to do as a news company, right behind not insulting the Italian prime minister’s height.

It’s a short week — already Hump Day. Carpe diem!

–Max and Max